Electronic point of sale (EPoS) systems are boosting hospitality operators' revenue by encouraging guest spending. Glynn Davis reports
Over recent years hospitality has become an increasingly multi-channel industry, with customers seamlessly making their purchases using myriad touch-points fuelled by rapid developments in technology.
Electronic point of sale (EPoS) systems sit at the centre of the growing payments eco-systems of hospitality operators and have to be able to adapt to the evolving landscape and seamlessly facilitate the various new forms of payment types that are emerging.
According to research from Zonal, as many as 24% of people now frequently use mobile wallets such as Apple or Google Pay while 18% opt for payment apps provided by hospitality venues. Things are not going to stop here, because there is an appetite for new technologies, with ‘pay-with-your-face' recognition software appealing to as many as 34% of the survey's respondents. This is followed by digital IDs (33%), ‘invisible' payments or walk-out technology (31%), and incredibly as many as 29% of people find appeal in having microchips under their skin.
Mobile dining
For instance, St Pancras Renaissance hotel has boosted its average guest spend by 20% with an Iris mobile dining app for guests that is integrated within its PoS system and enables the hotel to sell a wide variety of dishes on its all-day menu and to upsell additional items.
The menus are accessible via QR codes which are displayed on bedroom TVs and welcome letters. They will soon be added to the card inserts to provide greater visibility for guests.
According to Jamie Kirk, F&B operations manager at St Pancras Renaissance hotel: "Mobile dining is a huge benefit to us, the biggest improvement being guest satisfaction. With quicker, more accurate meal orders we are exceeding guest expectations and enriching their stay. The Iris platform unlocks new F&B revenue opportunities for us and helps us maximise guest spending."
With the app's direct integration to Simphony POS, online orders go straight through to the kitchen to be processed in real-time and the order is then delivered to the customer.
As such, the hotel has reduced delivery times by 10-15 minutes. The hotel states a delivery time of 45 minutes and often exceeds guest expectations by delivering orders far quicker. With the improved chain of command, there are fewer points of failure, improved order accuracy and enhanced guest satisfaction (especially among business guests who expect speed and convenience).
Over 70% of the hotel's guests place room service orders through the platform, highlighting how it appeals to the diverse customer range at the property, especially travellers and business guests who are often time-poor and prefer to dine alone in their rooms. It also appeals to leisure guests, who are happy to relax in their rooms after a long day sightseeing.
As well as improving the guest experience, it has removed the manual process of handling room service orders by the team and reduced their workload. All staff have access to the digital menus on their devices so they are on hand to answer any questions about dishes. Even if a guest wishes to order in-person with a member of staff they often use the app to place the order as it improves delivery times and efficiencies.
Chargeback ease
Further north, family-owned Cuillin Hills Hotel on the Isle of Skye recently expanded its relationship with Guestline as it looked to simplify and streamline the payment process and reconciliation, thereby bringing benefits to both guests and the hotel.
This included simplifying the chargeback process, which was often causing issues for the finance team, with investigation and resolution proving both time-consuming and costly for the business. In addition, the guest payment process was very much shaped by internal processes and systems and needed to become more guest-friendly. Thirdly, the management of refunds involving the tracking and administration of refunds was cumbersome and needed simplification.
Edward Wickman, general manager at Cuillin Hills hotel, says: "We went from a position of constant chargebacks, administrative headaches and poor support to a slick, simple, well-supported merchant provider with a 100% success rate in reduced chargebacks."
By adopting Guestline's omni-channel payments provider, GuestPay, multiple benefits have been enjoyed. Notably, chargebacks cost the hotel over £14,000 in 2021 alone with time lost investigating queries and seeking resolution. But since the installation of GuestPay there has been a 100% reduction in successful chargebacks, with a significant decrease in the number raised, and those that are, are now challenged much more easily by the hotel.
The guest experience has also been improved as they are now able to check out and settle bills pre-departure from their phones. This has removed lengthy queues at the reception and queries can be raised and resolved in advance.
Frictionless journey
Brewery and bar operator North Brewing Company implemented an integrated payment solution alongside its EPoS to enable the team to take guests' orders and process payments at all touch-points, resulting in a frictionless customer journey.
This has reduced the occurrence of errors and made payment reconciliations much easier by removing the need to re-enter payment amounts, in-turn leading to significant time savings for employees in its bars and taprooms.
At the heart of the operation is Zonal's EPoS system into which all North Brewing Company's technology is connected, enabling it to capture, analyse and act on a robust set of customer data from across all areas of the business. This gives access to detailed customer spend insight showing what products guests are purchasing and when.
The company is also benefiting from Zonal's fully-integrated CRM system Airship, enabling it to track customer loyalty and better understand guests' visiting habits. Using this data and insight, the North Brewing team has been able to create more effective promotions and in turn, increase footfall.
Matt Gladman, head of systems and continuous improvement at North Brewing Company, comments: "We're able to look at trends across the business. Now that we've opened sites in other cities, it's really important to see the different trends that happen in different geographical locations and see if we can capitalise on those."
Card cumulation
Card payments increases have coincided with a rise in the number of EPoS systems owned by payment processors. For many operators without complex PoS requirements these can be a straightforward option but the inability to shop around on payments, without the upheaval of switching EPoS systems, could be an issue down the road, warns Phil Neale, managing director of hospitality EPoS specialist Tabology.
"Whilst we believe strongly in integrated systems, we think it is better for hospitality businesses to keep their card processor separate from their EPoS provider. This enables them to select an EPoS with functionality that best meets the individual requirements of their business, whilst also retaining the ability to shop around for the best card rates in what is a very competitive marketplace, and switch easily when needed," he says.
However, where he does see a benefit is for merchants to use the same card processor for face-to-face and mobile payments, which is now becoming much more feasible. This can be beneficial in terms of fees, as well as reduced administration, he says.
"In the future, card machines may well become obsolete. Tap to pay, where a payment card can be tapped directly on an Apple iPhone, or Android device to pay for an order, is already being rolled-out. This represents a big step forward in simplifying operations, particularly for venues that take orders at the customer's table," adds Clarke.
It's clear that keeping abreast of the latest trends and developments in the payments landscape is an imperative for all companies if they are to deliver the level of service that customers increasingly demand today while also maximising the efficiency of their organisations.
Tap in
Constant changes to its beer menu and the complexity of managing stock from multiple brewery suppliers led Rivington Brewing Co Tap Room to upgrade its EPoS system, which has resulted in the business being run much more efficiently and boosting functionality of the tills including a successful loyalty programme.
The Tabology Bar EPoS system was introduced in 2021, according to Phill Clarke, Tap Room manager at Rivington, who says: "We were spending a lot of time updating our beer menus on chalkboards, and Tabology linked everything so we could display our menu on screens. The system's ability to cope easily with product changes was an important part of the decision to implement it."
The system pulls in information on each beer, such as style, abv and tasting notes, from the widely-used Untappd beer app and is made available to Tap Room staff through the EPoS screen as well as to customers on the on-screen menus.
It also provides real-time information about beer sales, says Clarke: "It's great for stock management, because every time we sell a pint I know exactly where we are. When a new beer is being brewed, I can load it into the system ready, and when the beer is delivered I use the bar EPoS to calculate the gross profit, enter the price and go live. I previously had to change the menu myself whenever we changed beers, which can be two or three times a shift."
The Tap Room has also added more functionality, including using the loyalty and promotions features to launch its ‘Friends of the Tap' loyalty programme. Targeting regular customers, the programme offers a year-round 5% discount on all products for an annual membership, as well as additional benefits such as a free birthday beer and access to brewery tours and other events.
Membership cards and vouchers are emailed to members, with discounts and other offers redeemable using a QR Code on the membership card, which can be stored in their Apple or Google wallets. More than 60 members signed up in its first month. "It's been a real success; the members really like it, and we love it," says Clarke.
